Aussie Invasion 2009 North American Tour

The last month of my summer has been amazingly fun! In fact this entire summer has been the best!

My new friends arrived on Aug. 3rd, after traveling close to 40 hours. Poor things were exhausted. That evening we BBQ'd and hung out. Here is a run down of all of our adventures....

Aug. 4th- We went to Edgefield for lunch, then headed out the The View Point Inn where the prom scene for Twilight was filmed. The place is gorgeous, and the views spectacular. From there we headed to the Vista House. I had never been there myself (at least that I remember), so this was fun. We wandered through it and saw more amazing views. We then headed down the scenic hwy (which I again haven't done) to Multnomah Falls. We hiked up to the bridge and though the falls didn't have much water coming down, the spray felt amazing since it was a rather warm day. We then headed home, changed our clothes and went to my parents house for my birthday celebration. Friends and family joined us for delicious food. Then a group of us headed down to The Nines to meet up with more friends. The rooftop bar is lovely at night...the views of Pioneer Courthouse Square and the lights on the surrounding buildings are beautiful. We then had to go down to Voodoo Donuts. It was a fun filled birthday!









Aug. 5th- We got going early, and headed to the Carver Cafe (the cafe in Twilight) for breakfast, where the Aussies tried bisquits and gravy for the first time, and were impressed by the size of the pancakes (apparently they are small in Australia). We then headed over to Stone Cliff (where "the lion fell in love with the lamb" scene was filmed). This was great fun as the boys climbed the large boulders, and Kelly and Ash reinacted parts of Twilight--great pictures were taken. We then ran errands and got ourselves ready to head out to LA the next morning. The boys also practiced driving on the opposite side of the road than they are used to (as well as the opposite side of the car).






Aug. 6th- We were out the door by 5:30a and headed to the airport. Once we got to LA we rented a car, and drove around a bit. We drove through Beverly Hills, and went to Venice Beach for a moment. We then headed south to Anaheim, where our hotel was. We got all settled in, relaxed a bit, and had dinner. Then we walked a long walk to Disneyland. When there we walked around the park so that they could check it out, and then got a spot to watch the "Magic" fireworks. WOW! These were amazing!! The best fireworks show that I have ever seen. We then headed back to the hotel, realizing more and more that walking between the two places was too long to do...



Aug. 7th- We drove up to Hollywood. We went to the Walk of Fame and checked out the stars, as well as the Chinese Theatre with the handprints and footprints, and the Kodak Theatre. But the absolute best was Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum! You could pose and touch all the wax figures. Some were better than others, some were creepier than others, but all were amazingly awesome!! We spend a bit of time there, playing around and taking pictures. We then headed on to Universal Studios. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood, where we saw Elvis' record deal, and various other pieces of music history. Then we went into the park, and went on the tram ride, watched "Shrek" in 4D (awesome, btw), went on the Jurassic Park Ride, walked though the creepy as hell House of Horrors, and watched the Waterworld show. We had tickets to see a television show filmed that evening, but we got so wrapped up in the wax museum and checking things out in Hollywood, that we ran out of time, and didn't make it. Oh well, it was a fun day all the same.

Aug. 8th- Disneyland

Aug. 9th- California Adventure; Fantasmic Light/Water show in Disneyland

Aug. 10th- Leizurely day at Disneyland. Then packed up to get ready for Vegas.

Aug. 11th- Caught a plane and headed to Las Vegas, where Criss Angel (the magician/illusionist) was on our flight. We stayed at Planet Hollywood--SO nice, and we got a free full sized bottle of liquor for each night we stayed--not that we even drink cose to that amount! We were put into the "Braveheart" Room. It had a sword and shield from the movie in it, as well as all the pictures on the walls were stills from the movie. The bathroom was amazing, and huge. The bath tub was something I hope to have in my house one day. I headed downstairs a bit on my own and played my favorite casino game (I have no idea what it's called). For dinner we walked over to Hooters. I wasn't impressed at all with the service. Guess that's not really why they are there, though, right? The evening was a relaxing one. I took a bath, and pretty much went to bed. Brad on the other hand, was drunk as hell by 10p and disappeared until 5a...I believe a girl was involved. When he arrived back to the room, he passed out on the floor! --free full sized bottles of liquor for each night we stayed

Aug. 12th- We headed down to breakfast, and as we were waiting for our food, Holly Madison (Girl Next Door, Playboy bunny) walked in and sat at a table near us. We (Ash, Kel, and I--Bread was sleeping it off in the room) spent most of the day at the pool, I love getting hot in the blazing sun and then jumping into the cold pool. I had the best Margarita, called a Green Margarita. It had Midori in it. After the pool, we all got some alone time. I went wandering through the mall attached to the casino and then got some dinner. We then went on the Neon Lights Tour. It started off frustrating, because the bus was running late, and the waiting area at the hotel for buses was outside in a tunnel filled with running vehicles. It was stiffling! But once we got going, it was great! We went to the Bellagio fountain, and the Mirage Volcano, as we traveled down the strip, Bill our tour guide gave us all the history of the strip. We ended at Fremont street. We watched 2 light shows, and had HUGE drinks-45oz! We were quite happy on the way home :)

Aug. 13th- Got up and headed to the airport. This is where we parted ways. The Aussies moved on to Houston, Texas (and later on to Vancouver BC), while I came home.

Aug. 18th- The Aussies returned to Portland. On the way home from the airport we stopped and got some Yo Cream and groceries. We then BBQ'd some steaks and ate some yummy food. We just hung out and watched some movies.

Aug. 19th- Since it was the hottest day of the week, we headed out to the beach for the day--and brought Haylee along. We started south, at Tillamook and had lunch at the Cheese Factory. Then drove north up the coast. The farther north we got the more foggy it seemed to get. Which is unfortunate since you couldn't see the ocean at all on the drive as well as once we got to Cannon Beach. We waded through the small river that runs down to the ocean. This was quite amusing as the Aussies didn't like how cold the water was. We found a spot to relax, and then did so. We played with Haylee in the water, threw around the frisbee, Kelly sculpted Australia in the sand, and the boys kicked around a football. We then drove over to Indian Beach (La Push in Twilight). This drive was spectacular, especially with the fog rolling in through the trees. Once we got down the beach, we found that the fog was worse here, but the tide pools were amazing! We found a cove that you had to crawl into, and if the tide was in, it would have been covered. There were mussels everywhere on the rocks, along with TONS of starfish, and a few little crabs. It was really cool wandering around and exploring all the little creatures. We then headed back into Cannon Beach for dinner and headed home. It was a long and great day!

Aug. 20th- Kel wasn't feeling well at all, so we hung out mostly at home. The boys and I went to see "District 9." It was good. We then went and got them a large duffle to put all their new items in. It was a laid back kind of day.


Aug. 21st- Last day with my Aussie friends. We headed over to the Oregon Zoo. They wanted to check out some of the animals that they had never seen before in person. It was fun. Then we dropped the boys off at Malibu Grand Prix for some racing, and Kel and I headed over to Washington Square. We weren't there long when the boys called and said they were done. From there we headed over to my parents' place to play some pool. They invited us for dinner so we stayed, and enjoyed some of their yummy food.

Aug. 22nd- Last few hours spent with the Aussies packing, and we watched "17 Again." When we got to the airport we found that they had missed their flight due to looking at the arrival time in LA, instead of the departure time. So we had to get them rebooked. We had lunch at the airport and then said our good byes.

I will miss them. They were great fun, and I am looking forward to heading over there sometime soon!!! This definitely made my summer!